WVC 51-3-16
§51-3-16. Security plans; approval by court security board;
awards; training.
(a) The sheriff of each county in conjunction with the circuit
judges, magistrates and family law master may develop a security
plan to enhance the security of all the court facilities in use in
the county and submit said plan to the court security board.

(b) Each security plan shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) An assessment of the existing security measures in place
and any problems or shortcomings with the existing procedures;

(2) A description of how the county responds to court security
emergencies and whether the response is adequate;

(3) A prioritized listing of equipment or personnel, or both,
needed to improve the security of the court facilities in the
county, including cost estimates for such equipment and personnel;

(4) A description of the physical locations of court
facilities around the county and a discussion of whether changes or
consolidation of space could improve court security in the county;
and

(5) An assessment of the training needs for bailiffs currently
employed in the county or for additional bailiffs and the options
for securing the necessary training.

(c) Each plan prepared under this section is subject to
approval by the court security board. Any plan rejected by the
court security board shall be returned to the county with a
statement of the insufficiencies in such plan. The county shall
revise the plan to eliminate the insufficiencies and resubmit it to
the court security board.

(d) Upon receipt of the plans the court security board shall
meet at least twice a year to review the plans and to award money
from the court security fund to the circuit clerk, county
commission or county sheriff to be used solely and exclusively to
purchase equipment, hire personnel or make other identified
expenditures in accordance with the plan. The board shall develop
an application form and establish criteria to assist them in making
the decisions on which applications will receive money and how much
money will be awarded. Once an award has been made, the recipient
will have a fixed amount of time in which to execute the
expenditures described in their plan. The board will set forth in
writing the amount of the award, the time frame for accomplishing
the plan objectives and the requirement that any unexpended money
be returned to the board for deposit in the court security fund.
The award or decision not to award these funds shall not relieve
any person or office of their duty or obligation to provide
security services to courts in this state.

(e) The board is authorized to award money from the court
security fund to be used by the counties for costs and expenses of
training for bailiffs. The board may establish minimum standards
for training and it may designate specific agencies or institutions
approved for administering such training.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session
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